Number of mothers breast feeding increases

The number of moms who exclusively breast feed their infants in Tulare County hospitals continues to rise.

In the last few months, by working with new mothers, nurses have helped to increase in-hospital breast feeding rates to their highest yet: 43 percent at Tulare District Hospital, 40 percent at Kaweah Delta Health Care District Hospital and 19 percent at Sierra View District Hospital.

Their efforts are a part of a statewide trend in the past few years to prevent diseases via breast feeding.

“It’s a cultural change,” Clinical Manager of Sierra View’s birthing Center Amy Martinez said. “It’s not going to be quick and easy.”

Traditionally, Tulare County has been an area with some of the lowest rates in California, however, the recent numbers show significant progress.

Only 42.7 percent of mothers of newborns breast feed exclusively in California hospitals after giving birth, according to the most recent data available (2007) from the State Department of Public Health. Less than 18 percent of California mothers breast feed exclusively when their infants are six months old, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2006, Kaweah Delta Hospital had the highest  number of moms breast feeding in the hospital with 26.3 percent. Tulare District Hospital followed with 17.9 percent and Sierra View District Hospital hit 15.1 percent.
The maternity nursing staff at the three hospitals has been trained by the state to help women who think it is too difficult to breast feed.

“There are psychological and social barriers,” Lactation Counselor at Tulare District Coleen Salazar said. “There are stigmas out there.”

Susan Kordell, who coordinates Kaweah Delta’s breast feeding program, attributes the hospital’s success to their creative marketing, which has included plastering ads on buses and attending health fairs.

If Sierra View personnel can continue, and enhance their efforts, they may reach numbers seen by Kaweah.

“Because of our low breast feeding rates we made it our mission to go above and beyond,” Sierra View’s marketing director Ramona Contreras said.

Based on a multitude of studies conducted in the last few years, health experts agree that babies who breast feed are less likely to contract the following conditions: ear infections by 50 percent, asthma by 27 percent, diabetes by 39 percent, childhood leukemia’s by 19 percent and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by 36 percent.

There are benefits for mothers, too: 28 percent less likely to get breast cancer, 21 percent less likely to contract ovarian cancer and 12 percent less likely to get diabetes.

As far as studies are concerned “it’s astronomical what we’ve found out,” Martinez said.
Breast feeding, however, can be painful and time consuming. As a result, it has gone by the wayside in the past few decades.

“America became a nation of bottle feeders after World Word II,” Martinez said.  

She has noticed a rarity in finding women whose mothers, aunts, or sometimes even grandmothers, who breast fed.

“We know that number one determinant whether they’ll be successful breast feeding is their family support,” Salazar said.

It can be a struggle for moms to breast feed every two hours when they are supposed to be at work. Babies who nurse on breast milk feed about every two hours, rather than three to four on a bottle.

Once babies start feeding on a bottle it is hard for moms to get them to go back to the breast, according to Dr. Ramon Resa of Porterville.

“They’re going to have a problem because it’s much easier to feed off the bottle,” he said.

So Sierra View has established a special program called the “Golden Hour,” wherein new parents spend one hour of uninterrupted time with their baby after delivery. Parents take turns holding the baby with skin to skin contact.

The intent is to get moms comfortable with breast feeding, even if it is only for the first six weeks when they get time off from work, according to Martinez.

As a lactation counselor, Salazar spends time encouraging that skin to skin contact.

“More and more in society we’re raised not seeing other people breast feeding,” she said. “It’s challenging.”

If approved by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that has passed through the House and Senate would force employers to provide a place for women to breast feed and let them know about it before they go on maternity leave, alleviating new moms of the pressure they feel to forego breast feeding.

“A lot of women are reluctant to approach their bosses about it,” Kordell said.

Despite a significant effort to get moms to breast feed, the nursing staff at Sierra View have not reached their goal of 25 percent.

A group of nurses joined together last month to extend their outreaches to Porterville doctors’ offices and clinics.

“New parents worry about how they’re going to decorate their nursery, but few spend time worrying about how they’re going to feed their baby,” Martinez said. “We want office staff on the same page as us.”

A brochure on the “Golden Hour” is available in Porterville doctors’ offices and clinics already, but the nursing staff aims to teach their staff more about the benefits of breast feeding.

“If we could get 100 percent of moms to breast feed we would love it,” Resa said. “But sometimes it’s hard for moms.”

Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jchandler@portervillerecorder.com.